


Inheritance

by NoveltyWrites



Series: DonZé oneshots [1]
Category: Legend of the Three Caballeros (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Original Canon Characters, Original Genderfluid Character - Freeform, Prequel, Tags May Change, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22854637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoveltyWrites/pseuds/NoveltyWrites
Summary: Work in progress. Just a scene involving Zé and his immediate family when he gets a letter from the  the New Quackmore Institute of Art, Culture and Science informing him of an unexpected inheritence from one Clinton Coot.
Relationships: José Carioca/Donald Duck
Series: DonZé oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1643026
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43





	Inheritance

" _Zézinho! Tem uma carta!_ "

José Carioca pulled the newspaper off his face from where he had been napping outside in his backyard hammock. A letter? For him? It could not be any relative he knew; most would have just called to talk to him. Perhaps it was some unpaid bill? It could be that he was discovered as the culprit in one of his numerous scams. The green macaw let loose a deep yawn as he considered whether to throw the envelope straight into the trash and pretend he never got it when his mother came walking out into the backyard, her frilly apron swishing over the top of his black dress suit. Clearly Jaci Carioca (née Papagaio) was on his way to work at his security job in one of the largest casinos in Rio, and she was likely quickly preparing something for her kids to eat for dinner before he had to leave.

"It's from America, somewhere in Calisota?" his mother said with obvious curiosity in her voice. "The New Quackmore Institute... Sounds like some kind of fancy school!" Jaci cast her son a shrewd glance. "Have you been applying to university after all? I thought you said you were going to skip a higher education and try getting a job?" She looked him up and down from where he lay in his hammock. "I can see you're working very hard on _that_ at least."

"Mãe, I've been working most diligently on finding a job, I assure you," José assured smoothly as he slid off onto the ground with practiced grace, taking the letter and turning it over with a slight frown. "I have never heard of such a place..." His own curiosity peaked, he opened the envelope and examined it's contents. "It is addressed to the descendants of Pascoal Papagaio... Where have I heard that name before? A distant relative, Mãe?"

"That's an ancestor of mine, yes. A several times removed great-grandfather, I think? It was he who immigrated here from Portugal originally."

"But this is addressed to the _descendants_ of Pascoal. So would this not then go to you?" Zé held out the letter to Jaci to take back.

Jaci however waved it away as she pulled off her apron, revealing his clean cut and stylish bodyguard suit underneath. "It said your name on the envelope. Whatever it is is your problem now, Zézinho," he said distractedly, straightening his necktie and donning his shades, the consummate and intimidating professional security man. "I'm late for work, _pintinho_. Dinner is in the fridge; let your sister know when she gets home from classes, all right?"

"Ok, have a good day, Mãe, love you," Zé relented as he kissed his mother on the cheek and watched him exit through the house. He read over the letter's contents for several more minutes as samba music drifted through the streets from a nearby dance school. His pensive frown slowly transformed into one of wonder, and then excitement...

Zanti came through the front door looking worn out from a full day's worth of community college courses. She was just kicking off her shoes when her brother came running into the living room, laughing ecstatically and picking her up off the floor for a dance. "Zé, please stop that," Zanti gasped as she was quite literally swept off her feet. "You know I don't like to dance."

"Zanti, my sister! You will not believe the fantastic news I have just recieved!" José exclaimed, ignoring her complaints to take his unimpressed sibling down for a dramatic dip.

"You are finally going away to teach samba in the Caribbean like you always dreamed, and so now I can study in peace?" she deadpanned.

"Better! We are going to **America**!" he squawked with pure delight, putting her back on her feet in order to reach into his pocket and producing a crumbled letter, which had obviously been reread multiple times since he'd opened it. "We, the fortunate descendants of Pascoal Papagaio, have just inherited a _cabana_ situated on the grounds of the **New Quackmore Institute of Art, Culture and Science** , a _very prestigious_ American university! It was gifted to us by one Clinton Coot, for reasons undisclosed. It also includes a free full term scholarship to the school. Isn't this incredible news?"

Zanti took proffered letter, scanned it quickly, and tossed it back with clear disinterest. "It's in English - I can't even read that."

"Well, trust me that is says exactly what I have relayed to you."

"Sounds like a scam to me."

"No! Surely not! It has a fancy seal from an official estate executor, see?" He pointed out the gold symbol embossed on the bottom of the notice.

"Well, thanks, but I'm not interested," Zanti shrugged and trudged past him with a weary yawn.

"What?! Are you crazy?" José sprinted around to intercept her path again, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her slightly. "Haven't we always talked about how we wanted to get out of this _favela_ someday? Go out and see the world? Does our childhood wishes and oaths mean nothing to you now?"

"Zé, I was ten years old when I said those things," Zanti pointed out tiredly as she knocked her brother's hands aside and proceeded onward to her room. "A lot of things have changed since then. I'm twenty now. I've got my own plans. And those plans don't include flying halfway across the world based on some pipedream cooked up by some _gringo_ we don't even know." With that parting shot, she closed the door on the male parrot's face before he could make another argument.

José looked after where his sister had disappeared with sad disappointment before quickly shaking his head free of all negativity. No way was he gonna let that grump rain on _his_ parade. "Well, it's your loss then! _I_ , on the other hand, am off to sunny Calisota, in America, the land of opportunity! I'll be sure to send you a postcard when I get there!" He dashed off to get his things packed. Adventure called him into the great unknown! He felt himself grinning at the thought until it hurt. Soon he would be travelling out into the wide world for the first time, and it couldn't happen fast enough for him.

That was all a month ago according to Zé Carioca's reckoning. It had taken just about every penny he had saved up and more besides to get him on a plane out of Rio and towards the international airport in the city of Duckburg. Nearly penniless, he had managed to con his way onto a bus heading in the direction of the New Quackmore Institute. When the bus driver discovered him after he had snuck on, he was tossed out of the vehicle in quick order, along with his personal effects, right in front of the very cabana he wished to reach as fortune would have it. 

" _Obrigado, meu amigo!_ " he called to the bus driver, who sat fuming in their seat, while a variety of ladies with whom he had just made acquaintances with waved and swooned from the windows. "And do not worry, I promise to pay you back at _my_ earliest convenience." He dusted himself off, affecting the same cool and casual ease with which he did nearly everything, as if he had perfectly meant to be thrown out on his tail feathers in front of a pair of perfect strangers standing in the walkway towards his inheritance.

Wait, there was someone already there? Were they waiting for his arrival?

Not missing a beat, he turned about with a sweeping bow, respectfully taking off his hat in greeting. As he did so, his eyes met for the first time those of the one person who would prove to be the most pivotal in his whole life.

"José Carioca at your, service," he said to Donald Duck.

The Brazilian parrot approached the two strangers who stood between him and the cabana that was to be his new home with the collected and confident air of a typical _malandro_ , turning the the American duck first to politely offer his business card. " _Cavalheiro, aqui esta o meu cartao,_ " he said on reflex, forgetting himself momentarily as he took in the details of this new bird. He wore a blue sailor suit that seemed to be tailor made just for this man to wear, and wear it often. He observed his rather perfectly proportioned duck features, the purity in his white down, and his bright blue eyes that flashed with confusion as he spoke in his native Portuguese. Very becoming.

Zé half turned to the other person standing to the duck's right, a lady canine of impressive stature, and took her hand in a gentlemanly kiss. The lady's stony expression melted with predictability at his suave manner, cooing at his _exotic_ nature. The green macaw suppressed a snicker. Ever since he arrived in America, it had become far too easy to persuade the female populace into his way of thinking. Was he truly such a novelty as to justify all that?

A flash of annoyance out of the corner of his eye was all the warning he had before the American duck asserted himself between them, hand braced on Zé's chest. "All right. Break it up," the sailor quacked irritably before turning his full attention to the _malandro_. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Oh dear, oh my. His voice!

It was positively the most adorable voice Zé had ever had the pleasure of hearing. He was so caught off guard by the unexpected vocalization that he almost lost his power for English, but managed to swiftly recover before anyone could notice. "I've come to claim my inheritance, which is most fortuitous, as my personal finances expired roughly... twenty miles ago." 

"Huh?" the American bird said with an brow raised in skepticism. 

"Simply put, I am broke, _meu amigo_ , but it is of no consequence!" José waved away genteelly.

The duck seemed puzzled but shook it off and peered down at the card he had been given. Zé watched as the sailor clutched at his card, looking between him and the writing which he was reading with mangled pronunciation, and felt himself charmed beyond reason by the sincere attempt. "Joe-ze Caroco, Rio de Ja-ne-iro, Brazil."

" _Não, senhor, José Carioca, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil,_ " he gently corrected, and then asked, quite without meaning to, " _Tem um dos seus?_ " At his companion's quizzical look, the Brazilian macaw corrected himself quickly. "Do you have one?" he translated while pointing at his own card.

"My card?" The duck emitted a nervous laugh as he searched through the pockets hidden in his top. _Unbelievable, how can one grown man sound so cute!_ "I know I brought one from the house before it... Ah! There you are." He handed over a playing card, an ace of spades, to the mildly surprised _malandro_ before he turned it over to show his name at last.

" _Muito obrigado,_ " he thanked as he quickly read and memorized the name of his new acquaintance. Donald Duck, Duckburg, Calisota USA. _Of course_ , such a name suited him so well! He was sure to remember it without even trying. 

" _Pato Donald_ ," Jose translated for himself and smiled as he felt his heart grow warm. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for an RP event on a discord server, and it got wildly out of hand very quickly. Don't look at me.


End file.
